August 13

A lot has been going through my head since the last time I posted but I haven´t had access to the internet in a while. On Saturday I couldn´t get anyone to go anywhere with me so I went across town by myself to an area called Recoletta. It was fun because on the weekends they have a huge street fair with really cool stands. The jewelry is the most gorgeous ever... and it´s cheap for our standards... not that that means I have money to spend on it but hey. There is also a cemetary where all the famous people are buried. It wasn´t like a cemetary... as I think of it. The place is just packed full of large elaborate stone tombs. People aren´t really buried, they are put in coffins and the coffins are placed in their families tombs. The difference in family wealth is very apparent. I didn´t really like the really rich elaborate ones... the really interesting ones were the poorer families with 13 some coffins stacked in them. Most of the doors to the tombs were clear glass so you could easily see into them. The whole thing made me think of Emily. I think she would have loved it. I walked around and imagined what she would say about different cool or creapy or artistic things I saw, and I imagined what I would say back to her, and how we would laugh about the large number of cats running around the place. Everyone talks about how Eva Peron is buried there like that´s the only thing worth seeing. I didn´t see it. I decided that her tomb probably has about the same significance to me as any of the others... and like I said, the old poorer ones were cooler.

After I walked around the cemetary I walked around the art portion of the fair and this strange old man started talking to me. It was fine for a minute until he started trying to get me to go get coffee with him. He asked me a bunch of times. And I was deffinitely not going somewhere with this guy. Then he said we could just walk together and practice spanish. Umm... okay. Creepy. I couldn´t figure out how to get rid of him. It was scary. After a while he just said caio, goodbye and left. Whatever.

Yesterday, Lauren and I walked around a fair in San Telmo and checked out the street performers. We both have colds so after a while we decided to go back to her house and watch 10 Things I Hate About You. On the way home we stopped at the grocery store. OMG. The store by her house is like a mini walmart. It was the most fabulous thing I´d seen in a long time. The grocery stores by my house have like 5 things. I was floored. Okay so you´re probably not as excited about the grocery store as me... but try buying groceries in a foreign country for a month in stores with no variety. Anyway... so I'm still spoiled. Oh well.

Last night I went to a bar with the Austrian and his roommates. It was really fun, particularly because the german guy brought me some empanadas so I didn´t have to buy food and when I told the bar tender I wasn´t sure what I wanted... he made me something for free. YAY! Didn´t spent any money.

I had my first class today. It was good. I'm really excited about it. International Relations from the South American perspective. I understood about half of what was said. But that´s okay. I recorded it on my MP3 player (good choice mom) so I can listen to it again. I also got internet in my house today so I can upload pictures and such to the internet soon. I´m trying to decide if 18 hours of dance a week would be too much for my body... I´m just so tired of being bored. But I don´t want to get injured that´s for sure. hmmm.

I think I´m going to Uruguay next weekend with some girls from CIEE. Costs money... but how many times in my life will I be able to take a ferry to Uruguay? I still miss my house... which makes me think of Emily a lot because it´s her house now. I think I will probably always miss our year of Glory. But I´m in a good mood. I'm glad I'm here. A couple tweaks to the situation would make it perfect. Some of them will come with time. Some of them will forever be lacking and I will always be casually aware of their absence. I guess that´s life huh. Peace to your hearts and minds. The world is beautiful.